This invention relates generally to improvements in refrigeration or chiller systems used to cool a supply of water in a water cooler or the like. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved chiller system of the type using a thermoelectric heat transfer module, particularly with respect to an improved arrangement for transferring and dissipating heat from a hot side of the thermoelectric module.
Water coolers are well known in the art for containing a supply of relatively purified water in a convenient manner and location ready for substantially immediate dispensing and use. In one common form, such water coolers include an upwardly open reservoir mounted on a cooler housing and adapted to receive and support an inverted water bottle of typically three to five gallon capacity. Water within the inverted bottle flows downwardly into the reservoir for selective dispensing therefrom through one or more faucet valves mounted on the front of the cooler housing. In another common form, the water cooler includes purification elements such as one or more water filters and/or a reverse osmosis purification unit by which relatively purified water is produced and supplied to a water reservoir mounted on the cooler housing for selective dispensing via a faucet valve or the like. In either case, such water coolers are widely used to provide a clean and safe source of water for drinking and cooking, especially in areas where the local water supply contains or is suspected to contain undesired levels of contaminants.
In many water coolers, it is desirable to refrigerate the water within the cooler reservoir to a relatively low temperature to provide a highly pleasing and refreshing source of drinking water. However, refrigeration equipment for such water coolers has normally included conventional mechanical refrigeration apparatus which undesirably increases the overall size, cost, complexity, operational noise level, and power consumption requirements of the water cooler. Alternative cooling system proposals have suggested the use of relatively compact thermoelectric heat transfer cooling modules, but these proposals have generally failed to provide adequate heat transfer from such modules in a simple and cost-efficient arrangement. Instead, heat transfer from the thermoelectric module has either been inadequate to correspondingly result in inadequate water chilling, or complex circulatory fluid cooling networks and/or large heat sinks and large cooling fans have been required.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for further improvements in thermoelectric chiller systems for use with water coolers, wherein a simple and relatively low cost cooling arrangement is provided for high efficiency transfer of heat from a thermoelectric chiller module. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.